What above is correct, timing is what matters. In public trackers, a popular torrent is a constant source of downloads; but in private trackers people keep seeding and in the end nobody will download from you. When I download just for the ratio, I usually do one of the two:
download freeleech torrents, your ratio can only go up;
go through the list of torrents with most snatches and pick those which have few seeders but at least one leecher.
And of course you can always upload new torrents.
@shdwrulr:
Thanks for the advice. I have had my account since 2010, but lately it seems that my kind of preferred videos take weeks before I get a ratio of 1 for said video.
I had the same problem, ratio hardly moving at all soon after I uploaded new torrents, for many months. I don't like to upload stuff I don't like, nor to micro-manage torrents and timing, but I've been stupid, there is an easy solution: make the torrents you're seeding freeleech (with the bonus points you got in years). I picked some torrents I like, which received some interest but only had a couple seeders; made the most popular freeleech for a week, the less popular for 24 or 36 hours (weekend is best I suspect): interest goes away soon, but in two days I've uploaded more than in two years…